


Above the Clouds

by DJsaxby16



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alex with superpowers, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Established Relationship, F/F, Kara and Clark finally have the abandonment talk, Love, Near Death, Nightmares, Proposal? Maybe? You’ll have to read to find out, romantic kalex, saving Alex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-19
Updated: 2018-03-03
Packaged: 2019-02-03 08:40:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,076
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12744864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DJsaxby16/pseuds/DJsaxby16
Summary: Kara’s fears of losing Alex come to a harsh reality when Alex suffers a fatal injury in the field. Only kept alive by life support, Kara is given a choice that could save Alex’s life, but would change her life forever.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to take a moment to thank my very good friend Yugi for helping me write this chapter, I hope you guys enjoy.

“ _I’m_ _sorry Kara” the Doctor said to her sympathetically “She’s gone.” Kara stood frozen in place staring at the body of the elderly woman lying on the hospital bed in front of her. The wrinkles, the gray hair, none of it meant a thing to Kara. In her eyes, she was just as beautiful as the day she met her._

_“No” Kara stated quietly, she then raced to her side and grabbing hold of her arms “No Alex!” She started screaming “Alex?  Alex come on open your eyes! Please!” She wailed in pain while shaking her shoulders “Alex please don’t go!” She continued yelling in vain “Don’t leave me, please!”_

Kara shot up, breathing heavily. She took a moment to take in her surroundings. She was in her apartment, in her bedroom, in her bed, and she was completely naked under her covers. 

“It was a dream, it was just a dream.” She muttered to herself, not even realizing that she was saying it out loud. 

“Kara?” Asked the equally naked woman lying next to her “What’s wrong?” She turned on the bedside lamp and Kara could see her girlfriend’s eyes, her young eyes, staring back at her as the previous nights events returned to her. 

 _“Right”_ Kara thought to herself _“Date night”_ Kara rubbed her eyes trying, discreetly, to wipe her tears “I’m fine Alex, it was just a nightmare.” Alex wasn’t buying it. She sat up and cupped Kara’s cheek, using her thumb to wipe away a betraying tear. 

“What’s really wrong?” She asked calmly. Kara wanted to lie, she wanted to tell her nothing was wrong, she wanted nothing more than to just curl back in her lovers arms and go back to sleep, but she couldn’t. No lies, no secrets, that’s what they promised each other when they got together. So Kara decided to quit trying to hide the tears and instead let them flow freely. Alex gently laid them both back down onto the bed and Kara cuddled up to Alex’s chest whilst Alex pulled the comforter back over them. She held Kara tight as she let the Kryptonian sob against her, after about ten minutes Kara began to quiet down. With her head pressed firmly against Alex’s chest, she focused her hearing on her heartbeat. All she could do was listen. It was so distinctive to Kara that she could practically pick it out of a line up. But more than that, it helped remind Kara that it was really just a dream, that Alex was still there, and still with her. After listening to the calming sound, Kara finally began talking. 

“You were in a hospital bed.” Kara began “You were old, you had to be somewhere in your eighties at least. I was standing over you, except I still looked the same as I do now. And then....and then....” Kara began choking on her words. Alex gently started stroking her hair in an effort to calm her down, which luckily worked as Kara continued “You died. You died Alex, and there was nothing I could do.” Kara began sobbing again. 

“Shhh, it’s ok Kara.” Alex whispered “It was just a dream.” 

“No it wasn’t.” Kara let out shakingly while looking up to Alex. “You know just as well as I do that Kryptonians age slower than humans. Hell, it’ll probably be about two hundred years before I even get a gray hair.” 

“Kara” Alex tried to interrupt. 

“What does it even matter? There’s no point in denying it anymore, I'm going to out live you. And there’s nothing we can do about it.” 

“Kara!” Alex slightly raised her voice while holding her girlfriends face in her hands “It was just a dream, I'm here now."

"But for how much longer?" Kara asked while sitting up and rubbing her face trying to clean off all the tears.

"As long as you want me to be." Alex responded, Alex sat up next to her, took her hands and held them tightly. "Kara, you might not be able to love me for the rest of your life, but I promise you I'll love you for the rest of mine." Kara shook her head. 

“That’s not good enough Alex.” She was quiet for a moment as she tried to figure out how to say this “Ever since I came to this planet, you are the one thing that has made me feel at home, not Clark, or Eliza, or Jeremiah, just you, I became Supergirl because of you, everything good that has happened to me is because of you. If I lose you, I’ll have nothing I’ll have....” Kara sobbed again while Alex tried to take all of this in. 

“Kara, where is all this coming from?” Alex asked in concern. Kara took in a breath. 

“Honestly, I’ve always thought about this. But since we started dating, it’s all becoming too real.” Kara took another breath before continuing “I have lost so much, I can’t lose you too Alex. I just can’t.” She let her head drop and felt Alex pressing her own forehead to hers.

“You’re scared, I understand. But Kara you can’t let these fears get to you like this.” 

“But Alex-” Kara moved her head to argue, but was cut off by Alex putting her finger to her lips. 

“Kara you need to stop focusing on what could happen years from now. What matters is what’s happening right here, right now. And what’s happening right now, is that I’m here, in front of you, still young, and still alive.” She could see Kara beginning to smile “And you’re right, the inevitable will come, and when it does, we’ll cross that bridge together.” 

“Promise?” Kara asked timidly. Alex cupped her face again and firmly placed her lips on Kara’s. 

“Promise.” Alex replied after breaking the kiss. “Besides, I think we’ll both agree that I’m a little hard to get rid of.” Kara  laughed, finally done crying. After pecking her lips one more time, Alex switched off the lamp and pulled the comforter back over them. 

“Alex?” Kara whispered. 

“Yea?” She replied. It was Kara who instigated the kiss this time.

”I love you.” Alex grinned and kissed her one more time, 

“I love you too.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you like the lovey dubbyness, cause that ain’t happening next chapter. You have been warned.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> To sum it all up, Alex gets hurt and Clark and Kara finally have the talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don’t say I didn’t warn ya.

She was cursed, she was absolutely convinced of it. She was cursed to never be happy for as long as she lived. It was the only thing she could think as she watched Alex being operated on.

—————————————————————

“Supergirl! Behind you!” She could hear Alex screaming. She didn’t know how it happened, how the hulking Karlackian got behind her fast enough to throw an inhumanly powerful haymaker to her side that launched her into the side of a bus. Even with her invulnerability, she could definitely feel that one. As the world around her quit spinning, she saw blood seeping through her suit, she used her x-ray vision to see her broken ribs sticking out of her body under her outfit. She tried her best to get up as the alien moved towards a group of civilians, but the blinding pain in her side prevented her from doing so. An explosion from a grenade managed to distract the beast long enough for the civilians to escape, but he then turned to see Alex as she fired on him with her rifle, a futile effort as the alien had it’s hand around her throat and held her in the in air before Alex could even wonder what went wrong.

“LET HER GO!” She could hear Kara scream. Alex looked the Karlackian in the face, wondering what would come next. One look into the creatures eyes and Alex knew what was about to happen. Kara looked on helplessly as the alien threw Alex as if she were a rag doll. She wanted to throw up as she saw the woman she loved violently roll against the pavement and smash against a wall on the side of a building. Even without her super hearing, she could hear the bones shattering in her lovers body.

Kara couldn’t move, she was completely frozen in place. All she could do was stare at the seemingly lifeless body of her girlfriend. Though that didn’t stop her from noticing the Karlackian walking back to her. Her eyes began to glow as she was about to unleash hell on the creature, ribs be damned. Though she never got the chance to do so as another figure collided with the beast, knocking it to the ground. She looked as J’onn, in his natural Martian form, stood over the creature. The anger in his eyes was like nothing Kara had ever seen. The beast stumbled as he stood up. He tried to strike J’onn but stood in confusion as his fist phased through the Martian. He tried to strike him again with the same results, then again, and again. As the Karlackian began to tire out, he let out an otherworldly roar as it took one more swing at J’onn, one which was caught by the Martian this time. J’onn punched the side of the other aliens arm so hard, a shard of its own bone protruded out of its inner elbow. It was then followed by multiple blows to the face, a sharp blow to its ribs, then J’onn grabbed the creature by its neck and proceeded to knee the Karlackian in the stomach one, two, three times. J’onn stood back and let the creature compose itself, it stood weakly as one arm laid uselessly at its side, it’s face oozing green with its blood, panting hard as it tried to strike the Martian one more time. As J’onn caught his fist, he reached up, and with a growl, phased his arm into the Karlackians chest and ripped out the beast’s heart. He watched as the creature fell to its knees, looking up hatefully at the Martian. Before J’onn could even stop himself, he reached for the Karlackians head and all that could be heard was a loud crack as the other alien finally fell down dead before the Martians feet. J’onn’s breath finally subsided as he shifted back into his human form. He turned to see that Kara had made her way over to Alex and was cradleing the woman in her arms. He almost couldnt recognize her with all the blood and pulp on her face. The tears formed at his eyes, but that changed when he saw Kara put her ear to the other woman’s chest.

“J’onn, her heartbeat.” Kara said “Her hearbeat, it’s still there.” J’onn raced to her side and felt the side of Alex’s neck. It was weak, but her pulse was definitely there.

“GET A MEDIC!” He screamed at the top of his lungs to the other agents.

—————————————————————

 She didn’t even know how long she had stood there, it could’ve been minutes or hours, it didn’t matter. She could only watch as the doctors operated on Alex, until she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to see J’onn standing next to her.

“Kara, you should be in the sun bed.” Kara shook her head.

“I’m not leaving.”

“Kara, your ribs aren’t fully healed.”

“J’onn I cant-“

“Kara just-” Kara was startled hearing him raise his voice “Kara, please, there’s nothing either of us can do here.” She would’ve argued again, but seeing the pain in his eyes kept her from doing so. She simply nodded, took one final look at Alex, and walked with J’onn to the sun beds.

—————————————————————

She sat next to Alex’s bed, honing in on her lover’s heartbeat with her super hearing. Though it was much weaker than normal, it was still there, it was still affirming that Alex wasn’t gone yet. It seemed surreal to Kara, seeing the strongest person she has ever known hooked up to all of these wires and tubes and monitors. Kara reached for her hand, but it only felt cold, it felt almost lifeless. She figured something like this was going to happen. Ever since her dream, she knew that this is where it was leading to. The universe just couldn’t let her be happy. 

“Kara?” She heard a voice ask her from behind. She stood up from her chair and saw Eliza and Jeremiah standing behind her. “We just got in.” Eliza said with a shakiness in her voice. Kara walked up to them, not really knowing what to say.

“I... I tried.... I wasn’t fast enough... I wasn’t...”

“Oh sweetheart” Eliza said, embracing her adopted daughter “It wasn’t your fault.” She said trying to comfort her. She broke the embrace and Kara saw Jeremiah next.

“Come here.” He said, holding open his arms. Kara embraced him, able to hug him a little harder than Eliza, the one good thing about his bionic implants, in her opinion, then broke off to look at both of them.

“I’ll leave you guys alone.” she said timidly.

“Kara you don’t have to go.” Eliza said.

“No it’s fine.... I’d.....” Kara choked on her words a bit “I’d like to be by myself for a little while.” Kara left them alone and started walk towards the training room. Even the lead lining in the building couldn’t stop Kara from hearing Eliza’s sobs.

—————————————————————

Kara stared at the blocks of concrete in front of her. She had initially intended on making them into rubble, but she couldn’t find the energy to even bother caring. That was until she heard the door open behind her, after telling everyone to leave her alone.

“Kara?” She could hear Winn ask behind her.

“Winn, I told you to-” As she turned, she saw the last person she expected to see standing behind him. Standing behind Winn was Superman himself. He patted Winn’s shoulder and stepped in front of him towards Kara.

“Thanks Winn.” The superhero said, Winn nodded his head and made his way out of the training room, leaving the cousins to themsleves.

“What are you doing here?” Kara asked coldly.

“J’onn called, he told me what happened.” He replied. “Are you ok? He said you were injured.”

“I’m fine, the sun beds did their job.” Silence hung in the air before the man of steel decided to ask the hardest question she could answer.

“How bad is it?” Kara couldn’t even bring herself to look at him and answer, opting to turn and face the concrete blocks instead.

“She has a cracked skull, broken spine, broken pelvis, lacerations to her lungs and spleen....and that’s just the short list.” Kara could feel bile rise in her throat “There’s a strong possibility of brain damage, and they said she’ll end up a quadripalegic if she’s lucky. Rao, they don’t even know how she’s still alive.” Kal didn’t know what to say, this was one of the moments in his life he truly didn’t know how to respond.

“Kara-”

“Don’t, just don’t.” Kara cut him off coldly, turning back towards him “I’m not in the mood for the sympathetic superhero crap right now.” A hurt look flashed over her cousins face “What are you even doing here Kal? Really?”

“I’m here because I was worried about you.” Kal stated in defense “And I care about what happenes to Alex too.” Kara just scoffed at his response.

“Just leave, Kal. It’s what you’ve always been best at.” Kara turned back to the concrete blocks, finally angry enough to work them over. After a few minutes of pounding on them, she noticed, out of the corner of her eye, that her cousin still remained. She stopped hitting the blocks and turned back towards him.

“Sixteen years” he said quietly “That’s how long it’s had to take us to have this conversation.” He states plainly, more so to himself than to Kara.

“Well we both knew it was gonna happen some day.” Kara replied.

“You sure you wanna have it now?” He asked. She just threw up her arms.

“We might as well. I think I’m finally angry enough to have it.” Kal nodded his head.

“You first” he said, indicating towards Kara “I think you’ve earned the right.” Kara let out a breath, before looking her cousin dead in the eye.

“You abandoned me.” She stated quietly “And you left me with strangers.” She continued “I was a kid, Kal. You were the only family I had left and you just dumped me on someone else’s doorstep.” Kal wanted to argue, but chose to remain silent and let his cousin speak her piece. “You know, there were nights I would spend praying to Rao, begging him to tell me what I did wrong, why you left me, when you were finally gonna take me away and we would be family again.” Her face began to glow red with anger “But you know what? I understand now, I get it. You just didn’t want me. You had your perfect superhero life and you just couldn’t bear the thought of some kid coming in and ruining it all for you!” Kara wailed in pain while taking a few breaths to calm herself. She wasn’t sure where those harsh words came from, but there was no going back now. There was a tension in the air as Kara waited for her cousin’s response. 

“Is that what you think?” He said with obvious hurt in his voice. 

“Well it’s not like you’ve given me any reason to think otherwise.” She replied harshly. He turned his back to her, her thinking he was just gonna walk away, but he merely stood in place. 

“You know, I don’t think I’ve ever told you this” he began “But I didn’t know about where I came from till I was fifteen.” He turned back around to face her “My dad and I got into this real heated argument and he told me that I needed to try and be more normal. So I shoved my arm into a wood chipper, I pulled it back out, of course it was completely unscathed, and I shouted if this was normal to him.” Kara was slightly stunned, she had no idea that Kal didn’t know about his origins until that late in his life. But she still didn’t understand what it had to do with what they were taking about. “So that night, he told me everything. I thought he was joking at first, but then he showed me the pod I arrived in..... To this day I still sometimes wish he’d never told me.” Kara was taken aback at that statement. 

“What do you mean?” 

“I went from thinking I was just a freak to finding out that I’m not even from this planet. I know my dad thought he was doing the right thing by telling me, but that night....” he stopped as the memories of that day came back to him. “That night, I had never felt more alone in my entire life.... and it never stopped.” He began pacing slowly “I find out what planet I’m from, I find out it’s destroyed, I find others like me, they end up being either criminals or murderers or worse, I meet others like me that are good..... and they always end up dead.” he said with sadness in his voice, then he stops pacing and looks Kara directly in the eye. “Then one day.... One day, I get a signal at the fortress, telling me that there’s a Kryptonian pod crashing to Earth. Of course my past experience has prepared me for the worst. But then I find the pod, I open it, and I find this child, this girl, this girl that I had only seen in the Kryptonian Archives in the fortress, and I realize that she’s not just another Kryptonian she’s...” Kal could feel his emotions getting to him, but he held back “She’s an actual blood relative of mine. I realize that for the first time in over twenty years, that I wasn’t alone, that I still had family. And you think that I didn’t want you?” His own anger becoming relevant. 

“Did you?” Kara asked desperately, Kal just scoffed as he couldn’t believe that she had said that. 

“Kara, of course I wanted you!” He replied, raising his voice. 

“Then why did you leave me?!” She yelled at him. 

“Because I was afraid!!! You want the truth? You wanna know why I left you? It’s because I was afraid.” 

“Afraid of what?!” 

“Oh well let’s see, there was the psychotic billionaire trying to kill me every single chance he could, there was the government black ops agency constantly on my ass, and there’s the fact that I made enemies left and right just by being alive. I wasn’t gonna willingly put you in the crossfire of all that.” Kara just scoffed. 

“Kal, I could’ve taken care of myself.” 

“No Kara, you couldn’t have. It doesn’t matter how powerful you were, you were still just a kid. And unlike Batman, I don’t feel the desire to put kids in harms way, no matter how strong or how prepared you think you are. And you know what else?” 

“What?” She replied bitterly 

“When you get right down to it, Kara, I was twenty-four. Okay, I was living in a crappy one room apartment, I’d only been Superman for about a year, I’d barely started working at the Planet, hell Lois still thought Superman and I were two different people. I didn’t have the money or the resources to even take care of a child.” 

“That didn’t matter to me.” Kara tried pleading with her cousin. 

“Well it mattered to me.” He threw back at her. “You deserved a decent home, you deserved a family that could take care of you. I just wanted to give you what I had..... I wanted to give you a real family.” Kara glared at him coldly. 

“I had a real family. I watched them die. I watched my parents die, I watched my friends die, I watched my whole world die! And you thought just leaving me with some strange family was going to fix all that?” Kal was about to respond before Kara cut him off “You were all I had left, Kal. You were my only connection to Krypton, you were all the family I had left! I lost everything and you weren’t even there!” 

“WELL AT LEAST YOU HAD SOMETHING TO LOSE!!!!!” Kal yelled at the top of his lungs. Kara stood back as she saw the rage in her cousin’s face. Of all the responses she predicted, this wasn’t one of them. “At least you had Krypton. You had your parents. You had friends. I had nothing! I don’t have any memories of Krypton, I don’t remember my parents, I don’t remember my home, at least you’ve got something. I mean sure there are plenty of files and images and records all about Krypton, but it will never be the same.” Kal stopped his ranting as he took a breath, Kara watched as tears stained the superhero’s cheeks, a side of him that Kara had never seen before. “You say that it was so horrible watching Krypton explode, and I have no doubt that it was. But as morbid as it sounds, I would give anything to have those memories. To actually feel the pain of losing my planet. I would give anything to remember feeling Rao’s light on my face, to remember Kandor and Argo City....... to remember my parents, to hold them, to see them, to know that they’ll never leave me.... and to be able to live a normal life with no powers and no Superman.” Kara was completely taken aback by this.

“But I thought you loved being Superman.” 

“I do, I really do but.... but sometimes I just wish that I could’ve lived a normal life on Krypton, and not have to carry the weight of another planet on my shoulders.” He he looked at his cousin with red eyes, not even ashamed to show the pain that he had been holding in for most of his life, pain he honestly never even knew was there. Kara wasn’t sure if she wanted to hug him or punch him, she opted to instead put her hand on her cousin’s shoulder and look him in the eye again. 

“How come you’ve never told me this before?” Her anger slowly being replaced with sorrow in seeing the pain he felt.

“Because I was a coward.” He replied with almost no emotion “Because you were right, because I’m no different than any other dead beat parent out there.” He let out a shaky breath before continuing “I was so afraid of letting you down. I thought that giving you up was the right thing to do, that it was what you needed. I didn’t want to abandon you, Kara. I just wanted you to have a good life. And I truly believed that I couldn’t give you that.” Both became very quiet as it was Kara’s turn to be speechless. “And you know what the ironic part is?” He asked quietly. “If I had the chance to go back, and do it again, I’d still make the same choice.” Kara’s anger was spiking again, until he continued “I see the way you look at her. It’s the same way I look at Lois every single day.” Kara simply lowered her head, not able to look him in the eye “Leaving you like that was wrong, but at the same time, I’m glad I did. Because of it, you found Alex. All I wanted was for you to be happy Kara, and Alex makes you happy.” She looked up at him again with tears in her eyes, the first ones she had let through all day “I’m sorry..... I am so sorry for making you feel like I didn’t want you in my life, but I’m not sorry for leaving you with the Danvers’. Cause even if you spend the rest of your life hating me, if you’re happy...... if you’re happy, it’ll be worth it.” Kal sighed deeply, relieved to get all of that off his chest. They both stood in silence as neither one really knew where to go from there, until Kara spoke so quietly, her cousin wouldn’t have heard her if it weren’t for his super hearing. 

“I was gonna ask her to marry me...” he stood frozen in shock, only able to watch as her shaking hand pulled out a velvet box. She opened it to reveal a beautiful silver ring with a shining sapphire sitting on top of it. “I just bought it yesterday.” Her voice cracked as tears started falling down her cheeks. “The other night, I finally told her that I was scared about outliving her. About me aging slower than she would..... She told me that I couldn’t let those fears get to me like that....and that when the inevitable came, we would face it together.” Her voice started trembling as she tried to hold it together. “I realized that she was right. I shouldn’t let my fears keep me from being happy. So I made sure that the DEO wouldn’t bother us and J’onn promised that he’d take care of Supergirl duties for me.” The memory of his promise making her smile a bit “I was gonna order take out from her favorite Thai place, we were gonna spend the night in, and I was gonna ask her on the couch.” She actually chuckled saying the idea out loud, earning a smile from her cousin. Though that all immediately changed as her chuckling turned into sobbing “We have to do something, we have to....” she began choking on her own words “if she’s gone......wh..what am I gonna do??” Before she knew it, she could feel herself being engulfed in her cousin’s arms as she began sobbing violently into his chest. She then felt her legs give out, Kal lowered them both to the floor while trying to comfort her. After a solid ten or fifteen minutes of Kara completely breaking down, Kal cupped his cousin’s face. 

“Look at me.” she was hesitant to raise her head “Kara, look at me.” He said more sternly. He was met with red, tear stained eyes. “I swear to you Kara, we are gonna fix this.” Kara just lowered her eyes. 

“How?”

“I don’t know, but I do know one thing.” Kara looked him in the eye again “I will not stop until I bring her back to you.... I let you down once, Kara. I’m not doing that again.” Kara still looked doubtful “We can figure this out if we do it together.” He looked at her with his trademark grin “El Mayara, remember?” Kal finally found what he had been searching for in Kara’s eyes, hope. 

“El Mayara” she replied. 

“Besides, we’re too stubborn to give up. It’s in our blood, remember?” Kara finally chuckled, enveloping her younger cousin in a hug of her own. “Our blood...” she heard Kal say to himself. She pulled back to look at his face, looking as if he had just had an epiphany “Our blood, Kara that’s it!” She wasn’t following. 

“What do you mean?” She asked

“The Genesis Chamber.” He replied. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was originally making this and the next chapter all one chapter but it was too long in my opinion, so I decided to split it in two.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If only we had a super powerful Alien machine that could fix Alex.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before any of you say, “that wasn’t why they used the Genesis Chambers”, I know it’s not. I made up my own usage for them for the fic.

“What’s a Genesis Chamber?” Asked Winn into the circle of people he was standing with in the middle of the DEO control center. The others included Kara, Superman, J’onn, Eliza, and Jeremiah as well. 

“They were machines that were used to artificially grow Kryptonians.” Kara responded, Winn raised his eyebrows almost comically. 

“I’m sorry, grow Kryptonians?” Winn responded. Kara noded her head. 

“They contained Kryptonian embryos, and through use of parent DNA, Kryptonians would be grown in these chambers.” Kara continued. 

“And these chambers existed because...” Kara turned to her cousin.

“Centuries ago, overpopulation became a big issue on Krypton. Many believed it was due to a massive baby boomer, others believed it was due to too many refugees on the planet, whatever the case, it became a problem. The planet became so over populated, that it eventually reached the point where many citizens had to leave Krypton. Any who didn’t comply were sentenced to the Phantom Zone or death.” Clark responded to Winn. 

“Well that’s..... really messed up.” Winn replied in surprise. Clark nodded his head in agreement. 

“It was. After the evections, artificial population control was established to correct the problem. Natural births became illegal, and instead, Kryptonians we’re grown in Genesis Chambers.“ Clark continued. “And it worked too, after a long period of time, the population had been reduced to.....acceptable numbers.” 

“After overpopulation was no longer a problem, the practice of artificial population was disbanded and natural births were deemed legal again.” Kara explained “But scientists still used the chambers for genetic research and experimentation. Both Clark’s father and mine used chambers in their research.”

“So how does this help Alex?” Asked J’onn. Kara and Clark shared a look. Kara nodded her head to Clark, Clark turned his head back to the circle. 

“One of the biggest projects that the Kryptonian science guild ever worked on was gene splicing. Primarily splicing the genes of other species with Kryptonian DNA. It was part of a long going research project to see what genes of other species could be compatible with Kryptonian DNA. Both of our fathers were a part of this project and, like Kara said, they used  Genesis Chambers to condocut their experiments.” Clark finished explaing. 

“Clark, what are you trying to say?” Asked Eliza. Clark took a breath before continuing. 

“My father left his and Zor-El’s research in the fortress’ data banks. I’ve read it, studied it, and I found out that one of the species they found that was compatible with Kryptonians were humans.” The circle went silent “And he left me a Genesis Chamber in the fortress....” the circle went even more quiet, if that were possible. 

“Clark, are you seriously suggesting what I think you are?” Asked Jeremiah. 

“Jeremiah, you’ve read the research, you’re the one who helped me study it, you know it’s possible.” 

“Is it?” Eliza asked her husband. Jeremiah sighed.

“Theoretically, yes.” 

“It’s more than just theoretical.” Clark injected “Over the years, I’ve been studying it, testing the Chamber, I truly believe that it could work.” 

“Why have you been testing it?” Asked J’onn, Clark gave a slight somber look to the group. 

“I wanted it functioning.... so that hopefully I could use it for Lois one day.” The group was silent again until Winn spoke up. 

“So let’s see if I’ve got this right, you wanna splice Alex’s genes with Kryptonian DNA?” Clark nodded in reaponse “So she’d be like you guys? Like with powers and everything?” Clark nodded his head again. 

“And our exposure to sunlight also gives us healing capabilities, it would fix all of her injuries. She’d be good as new, better even.” Eliza decided to speak. 

“But isn’t that an incredible risk, giving a human Kryptonian abilities?” She asked. 

“Eliza, if anyone can handle having our powers, it’s Alex.” Eliza still wasn’t sure. 

“What’s the catch? I know there’s something you’re not telling us.” She asked Clark asked suspiciously. Clark thought for a moment as he tried to find the right words to use. 

“The process is irreversible. Once she’s changed, there’s no going back.” Clark replied. “She’d be like us for the rest of her life.” Eliza paused, she appeared to be deep in thought. Eliza turned her head towards Kara, who had gone quiet. 

“Kara?” Kara looked back up towards Eliza “Do you want to do this?” Kara was silent for a moment, not entirely sure how to respond. She wanted Alex to be alive. She wanted her to be safe. She want to save her. There was no doubt in her mind that this was an extreme option, but if it can save Alex, then.....

“Yes” Kara said quietly “Yes I want to do this.” Eliza sadly nodded her head, then turned to look at Jeremiah. Though no words were spoken, it was clear they had made their decision. 

“Save our daughter.” Eliza said to Clark after turning back to him. Clark nodded his head in agreement, then turned to J’onn. 

“Can you arrange a fast medical transport to the fortress?” He asked the Martian. 

“Consider it done.” J’onn replied, then walked away from the group. 

“I’ll help with that.” Eliza said, she kissed her husband and followed J’onn.

“Winn, Jeremiah, get your winter gear.” Clark told the two. 

“Why?” Winn asked. 

“Cause you’re going with me and Kara first. I don’t wanna take any chances by getting the Chamber ready alone, and you two are the only ones I trust with the technology.” Jeremiah nodded in agreement while Winn couldn’t have been more excited. 

“Oh my god, we’re actually going to the Fortress of Solitude? I’ve been waiting for this sin-” Winn was dragged away by Jeremiah. 

—————————————————————

Hours later, Clark, Jeremiah, and Winn all stood at the controls of the Genesis Chamber, making sure all the preparations were in order. After a while, Clark’s worry began to grow as Kara had opted not to join them. It was more evident on his face than he thought as he felt Jermiah’s hand on his shoulder. 

“Go talk to her.” He told the Kryptonian “Winn and I can finish.” Clark turned towards Winn who gave an encouraging nod. Clark exited the control panel and looked for his cousin. He found her waiting in the central chamber of the fortress. 

“How are you holding up?” He asked Kara. She turned back to him, a neutral, but slightly hopeful expression on her face. 

“I’m fine.” She replied. Clark wasn’t so sure, he walked up to her. 

“Kara, are you sure you wanna do this?” Kara was silent for a moment. 

“I’m not gonna pretend this isn’t a big deal. I mean we’re about to change her entire molecular biology using a project that has never been fully realized. And there’s also the fact that we’re doing this without her consent. So...... I don’t know what I’m supposed to feel right now.” Clark understood. 

“This will work, Kara. I know it will.” Clark tried to encourage her. Kara at least appreciated his confidence, even if hers was lacking. 

“So this was all meant for Lois?” Asked Kara, trying to make conversation. Clark nodded his head. 

“You’re not the only one who worries about outliving their loved ones.” Kara definitely knew how he felt. “But right now, Alex needs it more.” Kara had never been more grateful for her cousin than right now. She never even considered the idea that Clark shared the same fears as her. It was quite selfish the more she thought about it, and it made her sad realizing how little she really knew him.

“Thank you Kal....Clark” she corrected “for doing this.” She said timidly. He let out a breathy chuckle at her correction, but decided it was time to be serious. 

“So are we gonna continue our talk?” Clark asked. Kara was surprised by this question. Though there was one question that was burning in her mind. Now was as good a time as ever, she figured.

“Why did you never visit?” Kara asked Clark, definitely throwing him off “When I was living with the Danvers’. I can’t remember you ever actually seeing me until I was older.” There was no venom or anger in her voice this time, just genuine curiosity. 

“I never did?” Clark replied, slight shame in his voice. “Not once?” Clark replied, Kara shook her head in response. The Superhero seemed flabbergasted. 

“I.... I don’t know.” Clark replied “I guess, I was scared of seeing you. Thinking you’d hate me for leaving you.” It hurt Kara to see Clark like this. She had always put him on a pedistol, she hadn’t thought that he could be as flawed as any other human. 

“I wouldn’t have hated you.” Kara replied “I wanted you to be a part of my life. Not just some relative that I never see.”

“Well I hated myself plenty.” Clark walked past Kara to the ice statues of his parents, staring up at the monoliths. “You know, all of the things you’ve done, everything you’ve endured.” He looked back at Kara “You are so much stronger than me. Stronger than I ever will be.” He turned back to the statues. “You know, I wear this symbol to honor our family, to honor our world, but I look at you and...... I truly wonder if I even have the right to wear it.” While Kara was happy they were both finally getting their feelings out in the open, this self deprecating had gone on long enough, in her opinion. She walked over to her cousin, placing her hand on his shoulder, turning him away from the statues and back towards her. She then placed her hand on the crest on his chest. 

“This symbol stands for hope, but it's a hope you make for other people based on who you are now, not what your past made you." Clark raised his head to meet his cousin’s eyes. “We are different Clark, but not from each other, without each other we would truly have nothing." Clark lowered his eyes, but Kara was having none of it. "I know, you would do whatever it takes to help Alex, and if Lois were ever in the same position, I’d be doing the exact same thing. That's the biggest similarity between us; how much we care for others besides ourselves. That's our crest Clark, that’s our family." Clark finally broke into a small smile, which Kara took as que to wrap her arms around him, engulfing him in as big a hug as she could manage. 

“So where do we go from here?” He asked into her shoulder. Kara removed her arms and stepped back to look Clark in the face. 

“Well, I’d like to try and be family again. What about you?” Clark let out a chuckle, smiling back at Kara. 

“I’d like that too.” But their Kodak moment was interrupted by Winn running towards them. 

“Guys!” He called out to them “They’re here.” 

—————————————————————

The heartbeat that she had become all to familiar with was the first thing Kara zoned in on. Kara remained still as she watched Alex being wheeled in on the stretcher by Agent Vasquez and another DEO agent into the Chamber. As they brought her up to the bonding fluid pit, Kara and Clark walked up to them. 

“How does this work?” Vasquez asked the Kryptonians. 

“All the preparations are made.” Clark responded “There’s only one thing we need left.” Clark reached back and pulled out what appeared to be a dagger incased in a scabbard. Clark removed the scabbard to reveal a glowing blue blade, which Kara recognized immediately as blue Kryptonite “A sample of Kryptonian DNA.” Clark looked to Kara. “Do you want me to do it?” He asked her. Kara shook her head and held her hand out. Clark placed the knife in her hand while Vasquez and the other agent removed the IV and other equipment from Alex, leaving her in only her hospital gown.

Clark, Vasquez, and the other agent left the chamber leaving Kara alone with Alex. Kara picked up Alex’s limp body and walked her gently into the pit. Kara placed a small kiss to Alex’s forehead as she lowered her into the fluid. As Alex started floating, Kara pulled the dagger back out and ran the blade across her hand. Wincing in pain, she placed her bloody hand into the fluid and let her blood flow into the pit. After giving Alex one final glance, she walked out of the pit back into the control room, where Eliza, J’onn, Vasquez, and a few other agents had now joined them. She gave the dagger back to Clark, when he incased it back into the lead scabbard, Kara’s hand instantly healed. 

“Ready?” Clark asked Jeremiah and Winn. They both nodded their heads. Kara didn’t pay them any mind as they started flipping switches and pressing buttons, but her anxiety grew when Winn spoke. 

“Bonding is at ten percent.” Kara watched as the bottom of the pit began to illuminate. It was now the point of no return. 

“Bonding is at thirty percent.” Jeremiah said. 

“Is she ok?” Eiza asked worridly. She had meant to remain quiet, but she couldn’t help herself. 

“She’s doing fine.” Clark assured Eliza. Kara could still only watch as the light in the pit became brighter. 

“Ok, we’re at fifty percent.” Winn told the group. “Come on Alex.” Kara heard Winn mutter under his breath. Kara still kept her eyes on the Chamber as now she could see bolts of electricity coming down from the walls and into the pit itself. The light growing brighter as well, completely engulfing Alex with it. 

“Seventy percent.” Jeremiah told the group. It seemed as if every person in the room was now holding their breath, though Kara actually was. 

“Ninety percent!” Winn yelled as the light grew brighter to the point where the it was getting hard to look into the Chamber. But not for Kara as she kept her eyes firmly planted inside of it. 

“One hundred percent!” Jeremiah yelled. The next thing Kara knew, Clark, Winn, and Jeremiah started turning off all the nobs and switches and the light and electric bolts in the Chamber started dying down. When it was back to normal, Kara immediately rushed to the pit, almost diving into the fluid. She immediately reached for Alex and cradled her girlfriend in her arms. 

“Alex?” Kara asked quietly “Alex?” She asked again, with no response. Then she placed her ear to Alex’s chest. And sure enough, the heartbeat was still there. Tears of relief fell down Kara’s cheeks as she turned to Clark who had rushed next to her. “She’s alive” she proclaimed, Clark let out a sigh of relief. 

“Let’s get her cleaned up and we’ll take her to the sun lamps.” Clark instructed. After cleaning the fluid off of Alex very quickly, Kara carried her to a room that almost resembled the sun bed room at the DEO. Kara laid Alex down gently on what appeared to be a hospital bed as Clark flipped the switches of the lamps that surrounded the bed. Sure enough, rays of artificial sunlight began beaming down on Alex. Kara watched with amazement as all of Alex’s visible injuries began to heal right before her eyes. Everyone else poured in behind Kara. Alex and Jeremiah stood next to Kara as they watched in absolute stillness. Kara took Alex’s hand in hers. 

“Alex.... please” Kara quietly pleaded “please wake up.” Kara’s breath caught in her throat as Alex’s eyelids very slowly began to visibly crinkle. “Alex?” Kara asked. Alex’s eyelids began to crinkle more and more, then slowly but surely, Alex’s eyes began to open. 

“Kara?” Asked Alex very weakly. Kara was now openly sobbing at the sight of the woman she loved more than anything began to regain conciseness. “Kara?” Alex asked again. 

“I’m here baby.” Kara responded, she then cupped Alex’s face and brought her into an almost searing kiss. After releasing her mouth, she engulfed her girlfriend into a big hug, Alex hugging back in a much more stronger grip than she normally had. Before Kara could comment, Alex looked over her shoulder to see her parents. 

“Mom? Dad?” Kara moved to the side to let Eliza and Jeremiah see their daughter. 

“Alex” Eliza said, before succumbing to her to her tears. While fighting tears of his own, Jeremiah asked his daughter the obvious question. 

“How are you feeling?” He asked her. 

“Fine, I guess.” Alex replied, groggingly “I’m tired, but I think I’m fine.” That’s when Alex noticed her surroundings. “Where am I?” She asked. 

“You’re in the Fortress.” Clark replied, walking up to the group. 

“Clark?” Alex asked seeing the other Kryptonian. “Ok, does someone wanna tell me what’s going on?” Alex asked with a hint of annoyance. 

“What do you remember?” Kara asked. Alex exhaled. 

“I remember the Karlackian. We were fighting him in he street, then..... then....” Alex paused, at first Kara thought the memeory was too much, but that thought process changed when Alex began to blink her eyes rapidly. 

“Alex? Alex what’s wrong?” Kara asked with worry. 

“My eyes” Alex exclaimed as she covered her eyes “My eyes are burning!” Kara and Clark looked at each other knowingly. 

“Everybody down!” Clark yelled to everyone. As they all dropped to the floor, Alex ripped her hands away as two blue beams blasted out of her eyes. Kara watched in awe as Alex made an impressive hole in Clark’s wall. Finally, the beams died off as Alex just sat there stunned, staring at the hole she had created. 

“What was that?” Alex asked the people next to her. Kara wasn’t exactly sure how to put it delicatly, so she turned to her cousin for help. 

“Well...” he began “At least we know it worked.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Big shout out once again to my good friend Yugi, as she helped me write this glorious chapter. Also, don’t forget to leave kudos, and don’t forget to comment. Comments give me life lol.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The ending you’ve all been waiting for.

Flying has always been Kara’s favorite thing to do. She loved soaring above the clouds, feeling the wind on her face, and just the sensation of weightlessness and gliding through the sky, there was nothing like it. The only thing that could make it better was seeing Alex soaring through the air right next to her. Kara had seen Alex at her best and at her worst, and she can safely say that she has never seen Alex smile like this in the entire time that they’ve known each other. Alex wasn’t doing too bad for a beginner flyer either. Though the barrel roles were maybe a bit much, Kara let her have her fun. After the time trial had finished, they both landed in the desert field where Winn and J’onn were waiting.

“Three minutes even.” Winn said while looking at his stopwatch “Very impressive.” While he was taking notes on his clipboard, Kara noticed the euphoric look on Alex’s face. 

“How are you feeling?” Kara asked her. Alex started to laugh. 

“That is the greatest feeling that I have ever felt!” Alex exclaimed, Kara knew exactly what she meant. “So what’s next? Strength? Speed? More flying?” Alex asked very excitedly. J’onn just chuckled and shook his head. 

“We’re gonna work on speed next.” J’onn told her. 

“Sounds good.” Alex replied, and looked to Kara for her instructions. 

“See that mountain over there?” Kara pointed to a mountain very very far off in the distance. “There and back on foot.” Alex nodded in agreement. 

“All right, but the loser buys the pizza tonight.” Kara glared at her girlfriend. 

“You’re on.” She replied, they both got in starting positions. “On your mark.” Kara said. 

“Get set.” Alex replied, and the next thing Winn and J’onn saw was the dust cloud that they had left behind. Winn stared in amazement. 

“Yea, that is definitely going to take some getting used to.” Winn said to J’onn. J’onn nodded in agreement. 

“Indeed it will.” 

—————————————————————

Kara followed the sounds of crushing concrete back into the training room as she found Alex pounding on a stack of cement blocks. Kara watched in fascinatinon as she made the blocks into ruble, that was until she hit one too hard and sent it flying into the wall, leaving a very large crack in it. Kara started laughing as Alex, sheepishly turned back towards her. 

“Don’t worry” Kara said “It takes some getting used to.” Alex awkwardly scratched the back of her head. Kara walked up to her. “Everything fairing out ok?” 

“Well I haven’t set anything on fire, if that’s what you’re wondering.” Alex replied. She blinked her eyes a bit rapidly, then stared at Kara. 

“Alex?” Kara asked a little worridly, that was until she saw Alex smiling, while staring down at her body.... “Are you X-raying me?” Alex turned red. 

“Sorry, im still trying to get grip on that one. Still.... I do love baby blue.” She said innocently. She noticed the binder that Kara was carrying “What’s that?” Kara handed the binder to Alex. 

“Super suit designs, curtosy of Winn.” Alex took the binder at sat down on the bench “Don’t worry, I told him no skirts.” 

“Hardy har” Alex replied sarcastically. As she started flipping through the sketches, she looked up and saw Kara pacing around, it was starting to make her uneasy. “Kara?” Alex asked, she got up and walked over to her “Hey, what is it?” Kara was silent for a moment, before looking up at her. Kara sighed and grabbed Alex’s hand

“Come with me, there’s something I wanna show you.” 

—————————————————————

Kara took Alex up and up until the city skyline was far below them. Kara brought them to a stop and they both hovered in the star filled nighttime sky.

“What do you think?” Kara asked her girlfriend. 

“It’s beautiful up here.” Alex replied, floating around aimlessly. 

“Yea. I come up here a lot. I can listen for any emergencies, or I can just drift. And.....” Alex waited for Kara to finish, but instead, she heard Kara’s heart beat accelerate. She turned to see Kara almost shaking with nerves. She floated back over to her and placed her hands on her shoulders. 

“Kara, what is it?” Alex asked worridly. Kara was seriously starting to scare her now. Until she saw Kara reach back and pull out what definitely appeared to be a ring box. Alex’s eyes widened and her mouth hung open as she looked Kara in the eye. Kara took a very deep breath.

“I want you know that I’m not doing this because you’re like me now. In fact, I was going to ask you the day the Karlackian attacked.” Kara paused for a moment to collect her thoughts “When you told me that I shouldn’t let my fears of losing you get to me the way they did, you were right. I was tired of being afraid, I just wanted to be happy, and I wanted to be happy with you. No matter how many times I never felt at home on this planet, I’ve always felt at home with you. Even if I couldn’t spend the rest of my life with you, being with you for however long or short a time would be worth it. And I know, everything is different now, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t happy that we actually can be together for the rest of our lives now. But even you were still human, I’d still ask you this question.” Kara floated downwards and bent her legs to the shape of her getting down on one knee “Alex Danvers, you are everything to me. You’re my best friend, you’re my soulmate, you’re my hero, you’re the person I always want fighting by my side, and you’re the woman that I want to spend the rest of my life with.” Kara opened the case and revealed the ring “Will you marry me?” Alex had covered her mouth in a desperate effort not to sob during Kara’s speech. Without being able to form words at the moment, she frantically nodded her head and let Kara put the ring on her finger. Kara floated back up and kissed her fiancé before hugging her tight. “I love you.” Kara said, kissing Alex’s tear stained cheek. 

“I love you too.” Alex managed to choke out. Though the moment was interrupted by the sounds of people screaming off in the distance. They separated and turned towards where the commotion was coming from. Kara used her telescopic vision to see what the problem was, and saw that an alien was running amuck in the market district. 

“Looks like-” Kara started 

“Its a Kalgorian” Alex finished her statement. Kara turned to see that Alex doing the same thing. “The DEO should be on their way, but we can get there a lot faster.” Alex said to Kara. Kara smirked.

“Well then, think you’re up for a field test?” Kara asked. Alex gave her a sly look. 

“If you think you can keep up.” Kara faux scoffed. 

“Well then” Kara floated aside “Ladies first.” Alex float curtsied and sped off towards the direction of the Kalgorian. Kara laughed at Alex’s enthusiasm. 

“Rao I love that woman.” Kara said to herself before following suit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just wanna thank you all for reading this and being patient with me. This was a hard one to write, but I’ve loved every second of it. I also wanna once again thank my bestest friend Yugi, she’s been a big asset to writing this fic, and she deserves real credit and love. So take care guys, it’s been a lot of fun.


End file.
